Analysis of A Prayer For Light.



Oh, give me light, to-day, or let me die, -
The light of love, the love-light of the sky, -
That I, at length, may see my darling's face
One minute's space.

Have I not wept to know myself so weak
That I can feel, not see, the dimpled cheek,
The lips, the eyes, the sunbeams that enfold
Her locks of gold?

Have I not sworn that I will not be wed,
But mate my soul with hers on my death-bed?
The soul can see, - for souls are seraphim, -
When eyes are dim.

Oh, hush! she comes. I know her. She is nigh.
She brings me death, true heart, and I will die.
She brings me love, for love and life are one
Beyond the sun.

This is the measure, this, of all my joys:
Life is a curse and Death's a counterpoise.
Give me thy hand, O sweet one, let me know
Which path I go.

I cannot die if thou be not a-near,
To lead me on to Life's appointed sphere.
O spirit-face, O angel, with thy breath
Kiss me to death!


Scheme AABB CCDD EEFF AAGG XBHH IIJJ
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 1111111111 0111011101 111111111 1101 111111111 1111110101 010101101 0111 1111111111 1111101111 01111111 1111 1111110111 1111110111 1111110111 0101 1101011111 11010101 1111111111 1111 1101111101 1111110101 1101110111 1111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 936
Words 208
Sentences 20
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 27
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 109
Words per stanza (avg) 31
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Submitted on August 03, 2020

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:03 min read
19

Eric Mackay

George Eric Mackay was an English minor poet, now remembered as the sponging half-brother of Marie Corelli, the best-selling novelist. Mackay and Corelli, born Mary Mackay, were the children of Charles Mackay, by different mothers. As a poet he is described as "execrable", and reliant on Corelli's promotion of his works. Mackay achieved some reputation in his time for Letters of a Violinist. It sold 35,000 copies; he repaid Corelli's efforts by implying he wrote her novels. A 1940 biography of Corelli, George Bullock's Marie Corelli: The Life and Death of a Best-Seller, hinted that the relationship was incestuous; this has generally been discounted, though Eric's laziness and lack of scruples are acknowledged. This was an old rumour, attributed to Edmund Gosse. more…

All Eric Mackay poems | Eric Mackay Books

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